A LAST CENTURY PRAYER.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 1812, 15 July 1891, Page 4

A LAST CENTURY PRAYER.

A Douglas correspondent sonds the "Hamilton Advertiser" the following prayer of a respectable woman in Ayrshire, the night before the trial of her daughter by the sheriff, for Btealing turnips from a field : — ' O Lord ! in despair I cry unto Thee this night that Thou may come doun frae Thy dwelling far ayont the sterns, and in fire and brimestone destroy thae graceless vagabonds wha are set in array against my puir lassie. O Lord ! I hae meikle need for y:>ur help in a trying time like this. Ye hae been a wonnerful kind an' obleeging Being nnto me, an' as ye tae winked at a' my trangressions. Through a weakness o1o 1 my nerves I hae been guilty o' monie a sinfu' action that none kens o' but yoursel', wha kenß everything Sair, sair against my wull this sinfu' body o' mine is daily offending. Thee may ways than ane, enough to mak' Thee awfu' angry at me. I warsel we' the fous thief every nichfc and morning, but he', our yaul for me to get the better o\ Atween him an' Sousie thegither [ whiles put out nan' to things that I'm unco spited about after hln'. I may sac that tnaist a' my days — this sinfu' tabernacle o' mme — has aye been daublin' in some myre ; and I ernestly pray that a' ray blunders may turn out to the y edification o' my puir soul. I'm aye ninnin' an' aye repentin', and ye're aye forgettin' an, aye forgiven me. But, O Lord ! among the multitude o' my innumerable sins — sins out o' the body or iv o' the body — they ne'er carried a load o' grief alang wi' them like this turnip affeir, being ken'd to the hail neighbourhood ; a' the rest o' blunners put together are but like flae bites to this. My worn-out frame must sink beneath the burden. It's haulm' the flesh aff my banes ; I'm gane a' to a vision, an* by a' appearance, ere lang I'll be mixed by the mools. The morn, the morn, O Lord ! tbat awfu' morn ! when my helpless, harmless, innocent, faitherless, puir Maggie Brown will be torn frae the armß o' her am auld mither, an' flung into a caul' damp talbooth either to dee or turn daft, a place bigget only for theives an' an' vagabons ! O Lord ! do Thou muzzle the mouths of her pursuers. Throw Thy mantle o' protection around her. May she be like Thy servant Daniel when cask into the den o' lions — the vile, filthy brutes durst nae touch him. I pray that my dear lamb by Thy power may escape frae tbe jaws o' her pursuers, and without spot or bleoiiah come whitterin' hame to her am sheep fauld, and join in the evening exercise wi' the ewes and the lambs o' Thy favoured and beloved flock. O Lord ! do Thou in a particular manner visit the bundle — or I may rather say that sackfu' — o' iniquity 0.8. wha is the cause o' a' this evil coming onus. And, I earnestly pray, if it please Thee, to ont him aff frae being a tiller in the vineyard, and not let him encumber the ground any longer ; if not may the spring tide o' misfortune overwhelm him. May evils spring up like mushrooms around him. May he be fried in the frying pan o' Thy indignation, and then he cry unto the for help — like Jonah frae the whale's belly — O Lord ! for my sake never let on ye hear him Do Thou loose Satan upon him in the form o' a ring-tailed glade, to claw the remaining hairs off his old bald pow. And as a mark o' Thy anger for the unheard of way he is for using us, may he ever after remain as bare as the turnips for which he procecutea my dear ween, the innocent offspring of my early and first love. I likewise entreat to bring Thy evening rod across him in garden and in his fields. May his corn stick in the shot blade ; his turnips grow nae bigger than grozets ; his t potatoes than marbles ; his greenkail grow dockans ; and his cabbage grow puddock stools ; his hens and ducks (instead of eggs) lay chuckiestanea. Ib would please me, if it would please Thee, to comply wi' my earnest requests, and hymns o' praise and Bangs o' thank' fulness, will be heard in every room o' my dwelling while I remain in this weary vale. Glory, honour, and praise! Amen.

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